CEO and co-founder of LeadGenius, which specializes in lead generation data and go-to-market intelligence for e-commerce teams.

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Contrary to popular belief, profitability and positive social impact are not mutually exclusive. It is, in fact, possible to build a successful company and do good.

A “forprofit social enterprise” bakes social impact mission directly into its business model. Doing good is the core of the business, not just something that happens along the way. For a social enterprise, growth is a means to greater impact.

I believe the forprofit social impact model is the model of the future. There are four reasons why:

1. First, as a forprofit business, a social enterprise is more sustainable than a nonprofit organization that must rely on grant money, donations or federal programs alone. As a for-profit model, you control your own density.

2. Second, a forprofit business can scale in ways other organizations cannot. The incentives of the company are designed such that greater impact directly correlates to a great profit.

3. Third, customers, investors and business partners today want to know that the companies they choose are doing more than just providing a product or service. They look for companies that are doing good. They will feel a special connection to companies whose values align with their own.

4. Fourth, social impact companies have an advantage in hiring and retaining staff. Top job candidates weigh many things when deciding where to take their skills. Salary alone is not enough. They seek companies whose values and goals align with their own.

Social enterprises don’t happen accidentally. They require planning and commitment. New companies can get it right from the start. Established companies can transition over time. Either way, it turns out, “doing the right thing” may be the best business decision you ever make for your company.

Social Impact Companies In The Tech Sector

Today, many companies that follow the social impact model are technology companies.

There are dozens of examples in Silicon Valley and beyond of companies that have the potential to create positive change on a large scale. To name a few from a great list assembled by Tradecraft:

• Pigeonly uses VOIP technology to help prisoners and their families communicate and send photos more cheaply.

• Spoiler Alert, a Boston-based tech startup, provides a way for unwanted food to go to people in need with its B2B technology platform. Nearly 50 million Americans live in “food insecure” households, which means they don’t have regular access to affordable food.

• Change.org, a multimillion-dollar for-profit private company, allows users to create campaigns to mobilize supporters around issues they care about. It's currently the world’s largest social change platform, with more than 100 million petition starters and signers in 196 countries.

We're doing it too -- at LeadGenius, we provide good jobs for the underemployed worldwide for more than more than 360 researchers in 33 countries. Among the LeadGenius researchers, 87% were underemployed before coming to work for us.

What Makes A Social Enterprise Effective?

Effective social enterprises like these share a few common characteristics:

• A social enterprise chooses a big problem. Social impact companies don’t think small. They start with something big like the environment, healthcare, equity or underserved populations, and figure out how they can make a big difference. A company that aims low and thinks small might exceed expectations, but if it comes up short, the low bar means it will miss even lower. A social impact company that aims for something truly big might come up short, but there is a lot of room to do good short of a lofty goal.

• A social enterprise tracks the bottom line. It measures success based on business/financial metrics as well as social metrics. Most nonprofits do good while losing money. They care only about impact. Many corporations make money without actually doing much good. Each cares about one bottom line: impact or profits. In contrast, a social impact company sets goals for its impact priorities in the same way it does for sales and marketing. It tracks both bottom lines. The best ones share their experiences framing and tracking objectives so that others can learn from their successes and failures.

• A social enterprise focuses on a single mission. It identifies a single core goal within the big problem and builds that into its mission statement. That goal becomes part of the company’s DNA and informs every decision.

Large or small, social enterprises that focus on building a successful forprofit company can change the world for the better. And the businesses that truly change the world are the businesses that last.